


Soul Scrolls

by illlicitaffairs



Category: The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:13:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28743795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illlicitaffairs/pseuds/illlicitaffairs
Summary: Chapter 27, but from Ofglen's POV.
Kudos: 3





	Soul Scrolls

I keep asking myself when to pop the question. Popping the question, a thing of the past. That’s not what I mean now, though. I cringe at the memory of the Mayday screw up that time. But something tells me she’s on our side. Even when she’s not in Mayday.

Nowadays I suggest different routes during our walks. I observe her a lot. There are many clues she gives off, without herself realising. Today she walks more casually, her arms swinging slightly higher than usual. I’ve realised that recently she answers more quickly too. She no longer pauses to consider her answer for 10 years before responding, thank goodness.

“Let’s go around,” I suggest, and she agrees. She lingers at the Wall for a bit, before turning around. We turn left towards the row of shophouses. 

Outside Soul Scrolls, we instinctively pause to look in. She peers through the windows with her “deep-in-thought” face, another thing she always does without realising. Head slightly cocked to the left, eyebrows slightly furrowed. I’ve come to recognise it. But unlike her, I’m not focusing on what’s behind the windows. I’m focusing on the windows. The reflections, our reflections to be exact. I’m looking at us, staring at our two-dimensional figures stuck on the shatterproof windows.

Look at me. Look. 

Almost as if she hears me, her eyes move just a bit to the left, and she sees me. It’s now or never.

I stare straight into her eyes, right into her pupils. Half of me regrets it, but it’s too late anyway. I don’t move one bit. She doesn’t look the same as when we first met. She no longer has the same fear in her eyes. She’s still scared, for sure, but she’s stronger too. Her eyes are locked with mine no less than mine are locked with hers. 

This feels like forever. Yet during this incredibly long silence I feel like I’ve gained a sort of trust from her. I just need the confirmation now. Taking a deep breath, I whisper,

“Do you think God listens to these machines?”

I don’t shift my gaze. Despite this my heart is banging against my chest so loudly, I’m surprised she doesn’t realise. I know I said our stare just now felt like forever but this feels even longer. I can see her considering her answer, as she draws her breath in and out slowly. The silence is killing me. 

At last I see her breathe in slowly but surely, as if about to let out a shocking truth. Her lips move away from each other and a single word escapes her mouth,

“No.”

Yes. YES! I’m so relieved I could hug Offred. I can’t, though, so I just let go of the breath that had been holding me the entire time. 

“Neither do I.”

My thoughts are running all around my brain. Now that the hard part is over, we need to get to the important stuff. Oh my God, she could join Mayday and we would be partners-in-crime, literally! I genuinely feel like I’m flying, from happiness but mainly from relief. I no longer have that constant voice in my head warning me that Offred could be a true believer, or worse, a spy. 

I can trust her, and that’s one less thing to worry about.


End file.
